The present invention relates to actuators that may be used to position a transducer or sensor relative to a media, for example in an information storage system such as a disk drive.
Conventional disk drives have a rotary actuator that positions a pair of arms or load beams adjacent to each spinning disk of the drive, the arms each holding a smaller flexure and gimbal that are mechanically connected to the head. As a means for increasing the density at which bits are stored and accessed on a media surface, the spacing between adjacent recording tracks and the width of each track may in the future be reduced to a level not accurately accessible with conventional actuators. As a result, a number of designs for dual actuators have been proposed, typically including a conventional rotary actuator and a microactuator disposed nearer to the head for smaller scale positioning.
Although a number of such microactuators have been proposed, room for improvement exists.